This invention relates to the monitoring of a slagging process for the partial oxidation of carbon-containing fuel, particularly coal, with an oxygen-containing gas in a reactor under high pressures and temperatures in which the gas formed is removed at the top of the reactor and slag at the bottom of the reactor.
Many carbon-containing fuels are of mineral origin, and often contain, in addition to carbon and hydrogen, varying quantities of inorganic incombustible material. This material is a by-product of the process of oxidation, and, depending on characteristic such as density and size of the particular particle, and the reactor configuration and conditions, may undergo a rough separation in the reactor into particles called "flyash" (lighter) and "slag" (denser). The flyash particles are removed overhead, while the denser materials collect as a molten slag, often including separated iron, in the hearth of the reactor from which it is discharged downward through an outlet or orifice in the hearth, referred to as a slag tap, into a water bath.
A real concern is slagging process is that the molten slag and iron may solidify within the slag tap orifice to such an extent that the slag tap becomes blocked. Blockage of the slag tap requires shutdown of the process, an obviously unsatisfactory result. The invention is directed to overcoming this problem.